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Sunday's news in under 2 minutes.

Army Chief Lieutenant General David Morrison, whose speech calling for institutional change in the army has been widely praised.

 

 

 

 

 

By MAMAMIA NEWS

1. Recent reports indicate that the Australian Defence Force knew of the ‘internet sex ring’ – a group of personnel who were involved with an email chain, depicting images of women who were unknowingly photographed during sex – three years ago. Fairfax has reported that the Australian Defence Force Investigative Service began looking into the scandal in September 2010.

2. The number of children being held in immigration detention is at an “all-time high” reports Fairfax. Nearly 2000 asylum-seeker children are being detained in centres around the country, as well as on Christmas, Manus, and Cocos Islands.

3. Labor MP John Murphy, who holds the Sydney electorate of Reid, has called on Julia Gillard to stand down from the position of Prime Minister so that Kevin Rudd can lead the party. According to News Ltd, Greens MP Adam Bandt has said the Labor party should realise that the public is ‘fed up’ with the government’s infighting.

4. Since Sydney teenager Henry Kwan took a synthetic drug and fell to his death, pressure has been put on governments to act. Earlier this month – prompted by the 17-year-old’s death – the NSW government banned synthetic drugs. The federal government has now revealed an interim national ban, on 19 different synthetic drugs, which aims to stop supply for 120 days. The point of the interim ban is to give other states and territories time to update their own laws – and legislate against synthetic drugs.

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5. NSW Treasurer Mike Baird has called on the federal government to charge more GST on online purchases, to pay for Gonski reforms. Fairfax have reported that Baird has said that if the federal government decided to charge GST on more online shopping, then cuts to state budgets to pay for the  $5 billion Gonski education deal might be unnecessary.

Image of Clive Palmer from the Palmer United Party website.

6. Clive Palmer, who launched his own political party to contest the election this year (the Palmer United Party) – and has been open about his ambitions to become Prime Minister – has called himself “uncorruptible” [sic]. He told the ABC, “You could offer me a billion dollars and it won’t change my view because I’ve already got a billion dollars.”

7. Iran’s new president has been announced as the moderate cleric Hassan Rowhani. This ends the conservative party’s eight-year leadership of the country.